After Transmigrating As The Film Empress Sister’s Kept Alpha - Chapter 9

“Will it affect you?”

“Are you worried?” Ji Xiangyu crossed her arms and leaned lazily against the entryway.

“I am.”

Shen Yishu was genuinely worried—worried that Ji Xiangyu’s identity as an Omega might be exposed and that, in her fury, Ji Xiangyu would punish her.

“It won’t.” Ji Xiangyu turned and walked toward the living room. “They most likely just want money.”

“How much?” Shen Yishu considered it and decided that since she had caused the situation, she should help bear the cost.

Ji Xiangyu named a figure.

Shen Yishu: “…”

Never mind.

No wonder people called the entertainment industry a money-burning pit. Even if she had worked a normal job in her previous life, it would have taken her several years to earn that much.

Yet paparazzi could obtain it simply by taking two photographs and threatening a celebrity.

She lowered her head slightly and frowned in thought. The more she considered it, the more certain she became that she could not afford that amount even if she sold herself.

“You don’t have to pay.” Seeing her expression change, Ji Xiangyu found it somewhat amusing.

She did not take the matter seriously. Had Shen Yishu not appeared, she would never have noticed someone lying in wait outside her door.

Even if they had not photographed her tonight, they probably would have taken pictures of her and Lin Luosheng a few days later.

“…I didn’t say I wouldn’t pay. I just can’t afford it right now.”

Shen Yishu had checked the original owner’s savings. She spent hundreds of thousands every month, yet had practically no money saved.

Whatever her family gave her, she spent.

“There’s no need. Let’s discuss the real matter.”

Ji Xiangyu did not take Shen Yishu’s promise seriously. She already paid her public-relations team a large sum every year.

She had been particularly cautious over the past two years, so plenty of that budget remained unused.

“I’ll write you an IOU. We’ll each pay half. I don’t have the money now, but after I film a few more dramas, I’ll be able to repay you.”

There happened to be blank paper and a pen on the coffee table that Ji Xiangyu used to write down her thoughts.

Shen Yishu crouched, pulled over an unused sheet, uncapped the pen, and carefully began writing the IOU.

After finishing the first line, Shen Yishu suddenly raised her head.

“Sister, do you want interest?”

She had not removed her mask. Her baseball cap pressed her long hair tightly over her ears, and her irises were pitch-black.

The crystal chandelier in the living room shone brilliantly, yet it could not compare to even half the starlight in her eyes.

From Ji Xiangyu’s perspective, all she could see reflected in that galaxy was herself.

“Sister?”

“Best Actress Sister?”

Only after Shen Yishu called her twice did Ji Xiangyu return to her senses.

She frowned to conceal her distraction.

“What?”

Shen Yishu did not notice that she had been staring blankly. She assumed her voice had been too quiet for Ji Xiangyu to hear.

She repeated the question, then added softly, “I think we can leave the interest out, right?”

The principal amount was already so large. If interest were added, she would have to repay considerably more.

Shen Yishu was not miserly. She simply hated the feeling of earning money only for none of it to enter her own pocket. It felt like working for her boss without receiving any pay.

“No interest.”

Ji Xiangyu had never expected her to repay the money anyway.

Once filming ended, she intended to say goodbye to Shen Yishu. Given the difference in their status, they were unlikely to meet again.

As long as they did not see each other and she could not smell Shen Yishu’s pheromones, her emotions would no longer be disturbed.

After finishing the IOU, Shen Yishu felt deeply pained.

This meant she was filming this entire drama for nothing.

She held the paper up to the light and examined her handwriting.

She had been a top student in her previous life and possessed beautiful penmanship—slender, vigorous, and elegant, much like the person herself.

“I’ve signed it. Once I’ve repaid you, I’ll come redeem this paper.”

Shen Yishu handed it to Ji Xiangyu.

“…”

Holding the IOU, Ji Xiangyu found the entire situation absurd.

“Now let’s discuss the real matter.”

Shen Yishu did not notice Ji Xiangyu’s small reaction.

Her only concern was clearing herself of suspicion regarding what had happened yesterday and using Ji Xiangyu’s involvement to uncover the truth as soon as possible.

To everyone in the original novel, whether the original Shen Yishu had personally administered the drug was unimportant.

What mattered was that Lin Luosheng had witnessed her attempt to humiliate her.

As long as the original owner was punished, the protagonists, those secretly pushing events forward, and the readers would all be delighted.

However, Shen Yishu was here now.

She had to uncover the truth. Otherwise, she would be punished for something she had not done, which was terribly unfair.

Ji Xiangyu placed the IOU between the pages of her thick script, then shifted to the left to make room for Shen Yishu.

Shen Yishu did not sit.

She remained crouched on the floor, tapped her phone, and played the recording.

One crouched while the other sat, both listening silently as Shen Yishu coaxed information out of Shen Gaozhuo.

When the recording reached the words, “She’s only an Omega. What trouble could she possibly cause?” Shen Yishu clearly heard a cold laugh from above her.

That was understandable.

Ji Xiangyu had concealed her Omega identity from the entire entertainment industry for ten years. Had Shen Yishu not accidentally discovered it, Ji Xiangyu probably could have hidden the secret until the day it became absolutely impossible to continue.

And Ji Xiangyu, despite being an Omega, could easily destroy the entire Shen family.

The recording abruptly ended when the call was disconnected.

Shen Yishu hugged her knees and looked pitifully upward, waiting for Ji Xiangyu to speak.

“This recording doesn’t prove that you did nothing.”

That was expected.

Shen Yishu had never believed the recording could prove her innocence.

“It only needs to show that there’s a possibility I didn’t do it.”

“You need to prove to me that you definitely weren’t responsible,” Ji Xiangyu said calmly. “Otherwise, neither the Lin family nor the Zheng family will let you go.”

“Then, Sister, can you tell me why I was in your room last night?”

When Shen Yishu asked, her expression was open and composed, as though she were merely asking Ji Xiangyu how she should perform tomorrow’s scene.

However, her heart pounded like a drum.

She was terrified that Ji Xiangyu might discover she was no longer the original owner and have her taken away for experiments.

“You don’t remember?” Ji Xiangyu stared directly into Shen Yishu’s eyes, seemingly trying to uncover how much truth her words contained.

“I don’t remember. I drank too much.”

Shen Yishu once again used her classic excuse.

After repeating the lie so often, she was beginning to believe it herself.

“There’s no point in lying.” Ji Xiangyu shook her head. “You barely drank anything last night.”

Shen Yishu: “?”

That was the same excuse she had used to fool Ji Xiangyu yesterday.

Ji Xiangyu had simply allowed her to leave without pointing out anything wrong, so why was she exposing it now?

Perhaps Shen Yishu’s gaze was too horrified, because Ji Xiangyu also remembered what had happened the previous night.

“I was tired last night and didn’t want to talk, but there was no smell of alcohol on you.”

“But I genuinely don’t remember.”

Out of the thirty-six stratagems, Shen Yishu could only choose shameless persistence as the best option.

Ji Xiangyu paused for two seconds before telling her the truth.

“Someone knocked you unconscious and abandoned you outside my room.”

Shen Yishu: “?”

The situation was becoming even more ridiculous and bizarre.

Ji Xiangyu clearly did not want to elaborate, but Shen Yishu’s burning gaze made her entire body uncomfortable, leaving her with the urge to throw her out.

“…”

Shen Yishu remained silent for several seconds before asking nervously, “Sister, didn’t you call the police?”

Ji Xiangyu lowered her eyes and shook her head.

Shen Yishu understood.

Given Ji Xiangyu’s condition last night, going to the police station would have been extremely unsuitable.

She was a public figure. Had she appeared outside while in heat, the entire world would have known her true secondary gender by the following day.

Moreover, if what Ji Xiangyu said was true and Shen Yishu had been knocked unconscious and left outside her room, the only reason nothing more outrageous had happened was that Ji Xiangyu had dragged her inside.

Perhaps what happened the previous night had been unpleasant, which was why Ji Xiangyu did not want to mention it again.

She had already saved Shen Yishu once and given her time to investigate the truth.

Shen Yishu knew she should not behave ungratefully by continuing to question her.

Changing the subject, Shen Yishu returned to the matter at hand.

She still held the pen and remained motionless on the floor, her face resting in her hands.

“Best Actress Sister, can you give me a few more days?”

Her gaze drifted, clearly occupied with thought.

“I plan to return to the Shen residence in a couple of days.”

Ji Xiangyu nodded.

“You’d better act quickly. Once the Lin family learns about this, the truth may no longer matter.”

Shen Yishu nodded obediently.

In the world of sweet, indulgent romance novels, the female lead was always cherished in everyone’s palms.

Anyone who harmed her was unworthy of forgiveness.

Such villains appeared repeatedly, courting death again and again until they ultimately fell into an irredeemable abyss.

Shen Yishu had not been fortunate enough to transmigrate as the female lead.

However, immediately after arriving, she had encountered Ji Xiangyu, who was willing to listen to her explanations.

That could still be considered good luck.

“Then I’ll go back?”

Shen Yishu made as though to stand.

“There’s no need. You’ll sleep here tonight.”

“?”

Shen Yishu froze, her movement and expression both becoming blank.

“The paparazzi haven’t left. If you return to your room, one of their accomplices may follow you and discover your room number.”

Ji Xiangyu spoke meaningfully.

“Then you’ll owe me even more money.”

The moment Shen Yishu heard that she might owe more money, she immediately discarded the thought that it was inappropriate for a lone Alpha and Omega to stay together.

She decided to remain in Ji Xiangyu’s room for the night.

It was a suite with two bedrooms, after all. If necessary, she could sleep on the sofa.

Seeing that Shen Yishu had fallen silent, Ji Xiangyu stood and made several calls.

Her manager was applying a facial mask when she received the call.

Startled, she leaped from the bed, threw the mask into the trash, and fired more than a dozen questions at Ji Xiangyu, leaving her unsure which one to answer first.

“I’m fine. They photographed something they shouldn’t have. Contact them and have the pictures deleted.”

Ji Xiangyu stood in the darkened master bedroom, shadows surrounding her.

From where she stood, she could see Shen Yishu still crouched beside the coffee table.

Her smooth hair fell behind her, making her appear gentle and obedient.

“Do you know which media outlet it was?” her manager asked.

She did not even ask what inappropriate photographs had been taken.

Ji Xiangyu had always behaved with discretion, so the pictures could not possibly be too outrageous.

“No. They’re probably still hiding somewhere nearby.”

Ji Xiangyu rubbed the space between her brows.

“Go to sleep first. Leave this to me and get some proper rest.”

Hearing the exhaustion in her voice, her manager offered a few comforting words.

“Where should I sleep tonight?” Shen Yishu asked when Ji Xiangyu emerged.

“The master bedroom.”

Ji Xiangyu remembered being unable to sleep in the master bedroom the previous night and planned to use the second bedroom again.

“What about you?”

“The second bedroom.”

“…Wouldn’t that be inappropriate?”

Shen Yishu did not know what Ji Xiangyu was thinking.

She merely felt that allowing the owner to sleep in the guest room while she occupied the master bedroom was extremely impolite.

“You can sleep on the sofa instead,” Ji Xiangyu said, glancing at her.

“…I’ll take the bed.”

The sofa was barely large enough for three people to sit on. Sleeping there for an entire night would probably give her cervical problems.

Ji Xiangyu estimated that her hair was nearly dry and prepared to return to her room to sleep.

“Si—Sister!”

Shen Yishu loudly called her back.

“?”

“Pull me up.” Shen Yishu looked pitiful. “I’ve been crouching too long. My legs are numb.”

Ji Xiangyu had assumed that Shen Yishu remained crouched because of some unusual habit.

It turned out she could not stand because her legs had gone numb and had been too embarrassed to call for help.

However, the phrase “too embarrassed” did not exist in Shen Yishu’s vocabulary.

She had simply become too absorbed in her thoughts to stand immediately.

By the time she tried, her legs had already become almost completely numb.

Ji Xiangyu extended a hand.

Because of filming requirements, her fingernails were cut particularly short and clean.

The rounded nail beds on her slender fingers shone with a healthy pink under the light.

Shen Yishu also reached out and grasped Ji Xiangyu’s hand.

Ji Xiangyu’s hand was somewhat cold, much like her outward appearance—distant and unapproachable.

Even while helping someone, her expression remained cold, like a divine maiden from a snowy mountain who blessed all living things merely as an incidental act.

However, when her palm pressed against Shen Yishu’s, that coldness dispersed.

It was as though a soft young deer had emerged from the snow-covered mountain and used its fur to warm a passing traveler.

The skin on the back of Ji Xiangyu’s hand was thin. When she exerted strength, the tendons rose slightly—not frightening, but adding a sharp sensuality.

Her palm, however, was much softer.

When their hands met, it resembled the vulnerable belly of some proud creature that never revealed itself easily.

With only a little force from Ji Xiangyu, Shen Yishu stood.

Her legs immediately weakened, and she lost her balance, dropping onto the sofa.

The moment she was upright, Ji Xiangyu swiftly withdrew her hand, unwilling to hold it for even one additional second.

“I’ll find you a nightdress I haven’t worn. Make do with it tonight. The folded and unopened items in the bathroom are all unused, so help yourself.”

Ji Xiangyu entered the master bedroom and found a silk nightdress identical in style to the one she had worn the previous evening, though it was a different color.

She handed it to Shen Yishu.

“All right.”

Shen Yishu held the nightdress.

The silky fabric covered the lingering sensation from their touching palms until she could no longer distinguish one from the other.

Even after showering and lying in bed, Shen Yishu remained somewhat dazed.

She had been in this world for two nights.

She had spent the previous night on this bed, and now she would spend tonight here as well.

She wore a nightdress matching Ji Xiangyu’s. The smooth fabric felt exceptionally comfortable against her skin and carried a faint rosemary fragrance.

Although the garment had never been worn, storing it with Ji Xiangyu’s other clothing had allowed it to absorb her scent.

It was not unpleasant.

It simply made one’s thoughts easily wander.

Perhaps because she was sleeping on the bed where something had happened the previous night, or perhaps because of the faint rosemary scent surrounding her, Shen Yishu dreamed about yesterday’s details.

Just as Ji Xiangyu was about to do something to her, voices outside the room awakened her.

“Why don’t you change hotels? This one’s security is terrible.”

It was an unfamiliar voice.

“There’s no need. It would be too troublesome, and there aren’t any better hotels nearby.”

Ji Xiangyu’s voice was calm, carrying an almost imperceptible exhaustion.

“I’m worried that an obsessive fan might come up here next time. We still haven’t caught this person either. We can only wait and see whether they’re willing to contact us. Was there anything especially serious in those photographs?”

“No. They only photographed a young actress from the same production delivering something to me. It wouldn’t be appropriate for the pictures to spread.”

Shen Yishu pricked up her ears and listened carefully.

Her remaining drowsiness vanished as she concentrated on every word, afraid of missing anything important.

“A young actress? It couldn’t be someone trying to do something to you, could it? Be careful. Young actresses these days are incredibly cunning. They’ll do anything to become famous.”

“She delivered something and left.”

Ji Xiangyu lied without the slightest change in expression.

Ji Xiangyu lied even more casually than Shen Yishu did.

Shen Yishu felt inferior.

A Best Actress was truly a Best Actress.

“What did she deliver—”

“Go to sleep. Rest for two hours before doing anything else. Stop exhausting yourself.”

Ji Xiangyu mercilessly interrupted her manager’s next question.

“All right. Where should I sleep?”

“The second bedroom.”

Two minutes later, the master bedroom’s lock clicked.

Rosemary mixed with the faint, fresh scent of shower gel drifted inside.

The door closed, and Ji Xiangyu switched on the floor lamp beside her.

“Did we wake you?”

Ji Xiangyu yawned from exhaustion.

She had been tired throughout the day and had encountered another problem that evening. She could not even rest properly.

“I wasn’t asleep.”

Shen Yishu lied.

“I told my manager to sleep in the second bedroom, so I’ll share this bed with you.”

The sleepy Ji Xiangyu was unusually agreeable, and even her voice had softened considerably.

“Don’t let her know you’re here.”

“Why?”

“It wouldn’t be good for you.”

Ji Xiangyu sat at the bedside. Her profile was clean and exquisite, while her voice carried a faint melancholy.

Shen Yishu did not ask why.

Ji Xiangyu did not want to explain, and Shen Yishu was not curious.

Knowing too much was not necessarily a good thing. Rolling herself in the blankets and sleeping properly was much better.

“Leave after she’s gone tomorrow. If you accidentally encounter her…” Ji Xiangyu released a long sigh. “Just say I insisted on keeping you here.”

Shen Yishu suddenly realized that Ji Xiangyu’s helplessness came from more than the difficulties she had already witnessed.

There were deeper reasons that Shen Yishu had no way of seeing.

Those reasons were too private, and Ji Xiangyu concealed them tightly.

Only during this night, while Ji Xiangyu was tired and too weary to maintain her usual composure, could Shen Yishu detect a small trace of them in her tone without ever understanding the full story.

“Mm. Go to sleep. You still have to film tomorrow.”

In the end, Shen Yishu said nothing else.

Ji Xiangyu took a brand-new quilt from the wardrobe and lay on the other side of the bed.

On the two-meter-wide mattress, each occupied one edge.

A broad galaxy stretched between them, filled with drifting thoughts and pheromones that occasionally brushed against one another.

The scent was faint, yet its presence remained powerful.

No matter how carefree Shen Yishu was, with a beautiful Omega sleeping beside her, she could not immediately fall asleep.

She remained awake, thinking about how she could return to the Shen residence and extract information.

Ji Xiangyu found it even more difficult to sleep.

The cedarwood scent she already could not tolerate, combined with the bed where she had already been unable to rest, maximized every possible source of insomnia.

Catching the intermittent pheromone fragrance teasing her senses, she could only stare at the ceiling and hope to endure the night.

When people could not sleep, they instinctively turned over.

Shen Yishu did.

So did Ji Xiangyu.

Quantum entanglement stated that one particle could form a connection with another particle a hundred million light-years away, allowing them to influence each other.

Perhaps that could explain why Shen Yishu and Ji Xiangyu turned over at exactly the same time—and instinctively faced one another.

Both still had their eyes open.

Since neither had time to turn away, they remained beneath their separate blankets, staring at each other with wide eyes.

The atmosphere became extremely awkward.

Shen Yishu: “…”

Ji Xiangyu: “…”

“Can’t sleep?” Shen Yishu asked.

“You’re still awake?” Ji Xiangyu said.

Both of them: “…”

“Tomorrow, I’ll ask Lin Luosheng to dress the way you did today and upload a selfie. If the worst happens, revealing that Lin Luosheng is my biological cousin will make the matter easier to clarify,” Ji Xiangyu said first.

Shen Yishu, however, thought about how Lin Luosheng had worked so hard to conceal her family background.

If it were exposed because of tonight’s incident, then Shen Yishu would have indirectly become another obstacle in Lin Luosheng’s career, returning her storyline as vicious cannon fodder to its original course.

Vicious cannon fodder who opposed the female lead never met a good end.

Shen Yishu did not want to return to that path.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she refused.

“Why?”

The floor lamp cast a dim yellow glow, preventing Shen Yishu from seeing the emotion in Ji Xiangyu’s eyes.

“She’s hidden it for so long. She shouldn’t have to give up halfway because of someone else.”

“Mm,” Ji Xiangyu answered softly.

“Keeping something secret for this long must have been difficult.”

Shen Yishu carefully considered her wording.

“I’ll help you continue hiding it.”

Both Lin Luosheng’s family background and the fact that Ji Xiangyu was an Omega.

Ji Xiangyu turned away again and stopped speaking.

Shen Yishu could only hear her soft breathing, as though she had fallen asleep.

She also closed her eyes.

Several minutes later, Ji Xiangyu spoke hoarsely.

“Can you restrain your pheromones? They’re too strong. I can’t sleep.”

Shen Yishu: “…”

She felt terribly wronged.

“Sister, I genuinely can’t control that!”